Thanks to the possible passage of an agenda item at the Marion County Commission’s Wednesday morning meeting, a long-proposed tax increment financing (TIF) district in White Hall and a portion of Fairmont may finally form, jump-starting infrastructure work and business development in the county.

If implemented, the TIF district would encompass the Middletown Mall, Interstate 79 High Technology Park and other areas along I-79 and W.Va. 73, according to Marion County Commission President Ernie VanGuilder.

“It encompasses a great area, and we’ll do it in phases,” VanGuilder said. “We’ll establish a priority list, and once we get the first phase done and we have a substantial income to pay off those bonds, then we’ll start looking at phase two and the possibility for expanding growth in the area.”

VanGuilder said the possible TIF district comes at the perfect time, as General Acquisitions LLC, owned by brothers David and Richard Biafora, recently purchased the Middletown Mall for nearly $13.7 million. A special event at the mall is scheduled for noon Wednesday to officially rename it Middletown Commons and unveil details about planned businesses, construction and infrastructure work.

“We’re just hoping that it would not only go ahead and provide the infrastructure to redo the mall, but also all of the additional facilities that may go in surrounding the mall,” VanGuilder said. “The TIF would support that.”

TIF districts spur commercial and private development by splitting the revenue from property tax within the district into two pools of money. The base revenue tax is the amount of money that a property tax generates before the TIF district is enacted.

However, any revenue that exceeds the base amount is defined as incremental revenue and flows directly to the government that sponsors the TIF district.

This money allows for work in that district, and in this case, would most likely go towards creating a new entrance to the mall, as well as other infrastructure projects in the area, at least at first.

VanGuilder said the TIF district would be huge for Marion County, and while the topic of a TIF district in the area has come up before, the Biaforas’ purchase of the Middletown Mall has made the idea of a TIF district more of a reality.

“When we first looked at it, the Biaforas didn’t own the mall,” VanGuilder said. “We had a problem with entrances (etc.), but that’s all changed since the Biaforas acquired the mall. They’ll have the ability to make all new entrances and traffic flow. We weren’t willing to take that chance when we had a third party involved. There may have not been any possible development. It was just too big of a risk at the time.”

The Biafora brothers are no strangers to development in North Central West Virginia. The commercial developers have done work with the Suncrest Town Centre in Morgantown, Market Place in Bridgeport and in Fairmont, at the Campus Apartments and College Park Apartments near Fairmont State University.

The brothers have also been developing a 50-acre area behind the Middletown Mall.

“We want to go in and re-do it properly with the proper storm sewers, proper parking lot lighting, striping the roof off (the Mall) and putting a brand-new roof on,” Richard Biafora said. “When it’s done, we’re going to use the skeleton and nuts and bolts of this center and re-develop it...

“The mall won’t be a mall it’s going to be a shopping center like Suncrest (Town Centre) in the structure itself and out in the parking lot.”

Other work, Biafora said, will happen fairly quickly, including a new entranceway and large, marqee-type monument sign that will showcase the entire development.

White Hall Mayor and Delegate Guy Ward, R-Marion, who has been trying to get the TIF district implemented for several years, is thrilled that it’s so close to becoming a real thing now, and praised the Biaforas for their role in getting it done.

“I’m excited,” Ward said. “That’s what I like about the Biaforas. They came here, and they’re like the cavalry. They’re the real deal. Together, we can work and make this happen. It’s got to be a partnership with business and municipalities and the county.”

While the mall area will certainly be one of the TIF District’s biggest beneficiary, it’s not the only one. The I-79 High Technology Park would also sit within the district’s limits, and will prosper in it’s own way, according to High Technology Consortium Foundation President and CEO Jim Estep.

“For us to maximize all the benefits that we’re trying to achieve at the park, there’s going to have to be additional infrastructure expansion that takes place locally,” Estep said. “There has to be some mechanism for the local government to do the resource expansion, and a TIF is a really good tool for achieving that.”

Estep said that the TIF District would benefit the park not only in through infrastructure work, but by attracting more businesses in the technology and information sector to the area, giving locals more jobs and opportunities.

While the framework for the district has been put in place, specifics, such as the predicted amount to be received from its creation, have not yet been determined. Even if the county commission supports the district during its Wednesday meeting, it won’t become official until it makes it’s way through the state government for approval.

Despite this, VanGuilder said that agenda item will very likely be passed.

“All three commissioners agree that, if channeled correctly, the TIF in its current proposal would be pretty successful, so I look forward to passing it,” VanGuilder said.

With all of these local governments and businesses working together to create the TIF District, Ward said that each segment of the district, specifically the mall area and the technology park, will soon create an incubator for success that benefits everyone in Marion County.

“We’re going to provide the retail and the restaurants and entertainment, but over there (at the technology park), they’re going to provide the good-paying jobs that’ll help bring people in to the area and make people want to come into the area,” Ward said. “It’s going to be a win-win for everyone.”

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